The evening dress from Rachel Hurst, shown at the Diet Pepsi Style Studio fashion show presented by Simon Doonan at Lincoln Center on Feb. 9, 2012 in New York City.

Among the more than 200 official shows taking place during Mercedez-Benz Fashion Week was one in which an emerging Denver designer got a chance to take her turn on the runway.

Rachel Marie Hurst, who started House of Rae Marie about a year ago, was one of four designers chosen by Diet Pepsi to bring a little “hometown” flair to Manhanttan during fashion week. Hurst and three other designers created three looks each that they showed in The Box at Lincoln Center Thursday night to a celebrity-studded audience. The designers were briefly mentored by Simon Doonan, and got to show off their looks in a Jonathan Adler-designed space.

Among those attending were Mary-Kate Olsen, who with her sister Ashley has a few clothing brands she’s promoting herself. Also on hand were Debra Messing, who’s in the new NBC TV show “Smash,” Sandra Lee of Food Network, actresses Kristen Chenoweth (new series “GCB” debuts in March) and Kelly Rutherford (“Gossip Girl”), and the “Jays” — Jay Manuel and Jay Alexander of “America’s Next Top Model.”